The present invention relates to a method for estimating the available record time and a recording medium processing apparatus. More particularly, it relates to a method and an apparatus which are designed to discriminate as blank sections the positions of recording medium where no events are recorded and the record positions of events that have been judged to be negligible, and display the available record time of the longest blank section among the blank sections as the maximum available record time of the recording medium.
In recording an event on a recording medium, e.g., in recording a broadcast on a video cassette, it is the conventional method to confirm prior to the commencement of recording of the broadcast as to how long available record time is there so that the intended broadcast may be recorded without being cut off.
This estimation of available record time is carried out by utilization of the value of tape counter of the recording medium processing apparatus, e.g., video tape recorder, which records events on the recording medium and reproduces recorded events from the recording medium, or by utilization of the tape position which is detected at the setting of the video cassette on the video tape recorder.
In the case of the detection of tape position, unless the video cassette is loaded to the video cassette recorder, the tape position cannot be detected and accordingly the available record time cannot be estimated. In case the video cassette is taken out of the video tape recorder, the available record time cannot be estimated correctly from the counter value unless the counter value is reset on the assumption that the tape position is the tape head.
In any case, the estimated available record time is the time when the tape runs from the current tape position to the tape end position. On this account, even if an already recorded broadcast is judged to be negligible and the record position of the broadcast is converted to an available recording area, the available record time will be estimated shorter when the unrecorded section from the tape position at the end of recording of the broadcast up to the tape end is small, and the broadcast cannot be recorded efficiently on the recording medium.
Accordingly, it is the object of the present invention to provide a method for estimating the available record time and a recording medium processing apparatus. The method and the apparatus are capable of readily detecting the maximum available record time of a recording medium.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, we provide a method for estimating available record time on a recording medium, said method comprising the steps of calculating the lengths of a plurality of blank sections on said recording medium, selecting the longest blank section among the blank sections, and determining the length of the longest blank section to be the maximum available record time of said recording medium.
According to a second aspect of the invention, we provide a recording medium processing apparatus for recording or reproducing events on a recording medium comprising control means for estimating the available record time on said recording medium, wherein said control means calculates the lengths of a plurality of blank sections on said recording medium and it selects the longest blank section among the blank sections, and then it determines the length of the longest blank section to be the maximum available record time of said recording medium.
According to this invention, the positions of recording medium where no events are recorded and the record positions of events that have been judged to be negligible, e.g., the positions of video cassette where no broadcasts are recorded and the record positions of broadcasts that have been judged to be negligible, are discriminated as blank sections, and the longest blank section is detected among these blank sections. The available record time of the detected longest blank section is determined to be the maximum available record time of the recording medium. A memory card which records the record position information of the recorded broadcasts is attached to the video cassette. When such the video cassette is brought close to the recording medium processing apparatus, i.e., video tape recorder, or when such the video cassette is loaded to the video tape recorder, or when a certain key operation or the like is implemented following the load of the video cassette, the record position information is read out of the memory card. Then, the maximum available record time is estimated based on the record position information and displayed. The amount of available record time is dependent on the recording mode, e.g., standard recording mode or long-time recording mode.
A further understanding of the nature and advantages of the invention may be realized by reference to the following portions of the specification and drawings.